You may have not heard about it yet, but you´ll probably hear about it
soon: there are civil protests going on in Spain, and they’re getting
bigger and louder each minute, on and offline. Civil unrest has been
mounting for the last three years, along with unemployment, budget
cuts-that are deeply affecting the welfare system-the dubious practices
of some banking institutions and corporations, and the ambiguity of
political parties in the face of some cases of potential corruption in
their membership, among other issues.
For several months now, different platforms have been trying to canalize that anger into discussion and mobilization. One, if not “the’’ crucial one, in the final unleashing of ongoing events is Democracia Real YA (Real Democracy NOW), especially through their Facebook page and website. Several weeks ago, it called for demonstrations in over sixty cities on May 15th, a week before the elections in thirteen out of the seventeen regions of Spain, and all the towns countrywide.
Nobody expected it, almost no major newspaper, radio, or television, talked about it, yet (as a tweet said) Sorpresa, funcionó! (Surprise, it worked!). Thousands of people hit the streets all over the country to let their voices to be heard without the convocation of any political party, union, or official institution, something rarely seen since the transition from dictatorship to democracy in the 70s. I myself attended one of those demonstrations, in Sevilla, along with several thousand exasperated, yet playful protesters. In a march from 6:00 to 8:00 PM, despite the sun and the 30-something degrees Celsius, people were able to turn shouts into chants, and, at least for a while, frustration gave way to fun, and even joy (watch, especially, from minute 4:00 onwards in the video).
It was a manifestation of indignation, and, progressively, some hope. These are probably two of the key elements linking citizens whose ideas may converge only in some –if strong- points. Social networks on the internet were able to canalize both, indignation and hope, and are still doing so. This was the case even though proposals and plans of action for the future were-and still are-under construction. An initial list of objectives was available on the D.R.Y. website before the May 15th demonstrations.
Nevertheless, a wider multi-sited, connected, somehow unclear, yet strongly participatory process for articulating a political program grew right after 15-M. This articulation work soon became crucial since, unlike the recent case of many Muslim countries, the primary objective of the protests is not an easily definable one, such as the overthrow of the government. The general goal is rather to denounce (and to demand concrete changes on) structural problems that affect politics and society at several levels. To my mind, a key issue at stake –and to be analyzed- right now are the roles of social networks and the internet not only as sources of –and what kinds of- mobilization, but also of deliberation and action at the national level over the long term.
In this process, assemblies and demonstrations offline proved crucial before, but especially after the marches on 15-M (May 15th). Some of the 20,000 demonstrators in Madrid spontaneously decided to camp at the place where the rally ended last Sunday, in the core of the capital: La Plaza del Sol. The symbolic power of the site is clear: the ‘’Kilómetro Cero’’ (Kilometer Zero), the center of the radial network of Spanish roads. New camps have mushroomed –and sometimes been stopped by authorities- all over the country ever since, and may jump to other European cities this week, where people are planning to concentrate in front of Spanish embassies.
The connections between assemblies in diverse cities, the connections or disconnections, in turn, between those and the social networks online, the positions of traditional mass media, etc. will be some of the things I will talk about in coming soapbox posts. In so doing, I will try not just to inform about the feats and fate of these questioning networks, online and offline. I will also try to question them, and to analyze the possibilities and limitations that their sociotechnical infrastructures represent for the future of their works and proposals.
About the Author: Antonio Calleja-Lopez was visiting Fulbright student with CSPO and CNS from the University of Seville, Spain.
For several months now, different platforms have been trying to canalize that anger into discussion and mobilization. One, if not “the’’ crucial one, in the final unleashing of ongoing events is Democracia Real YA (Real Democracy NOW), especially through their Facebook page and website. Several weeks ago, it called for demonstrations in over sixty cities on May 15th, a week before the elections in thirteen out of the seventeen regions of Spain, and all the towns countrywide.
Nobody expected it, almost no major newspaper, radio, or television, talked about it, yet (as a tweet said) Sorpresa, funcionó! (Surprise, it worked!). Thousands of people hit the streets all over the country to let their voices to be heard without the convocation of any political party, union, or official institution, something rarely seen since the transition from dictatorship to democracy in the 70s. I myself attended one of those demonstrations, in Sevilla, along with several thousand exasperated, yet playful protesters. In a march from 6:00 to 8:00 PM, despite the sun and the 30-something degrees Celsius, people were able to turn shouts into chants, and, at least for a while, frustration gave way to fun, and even joy (watch, especially, from minute 4:00 onwards in the video).
It was a manifestation of indignation, and, progressively, some hope. These are probably two of the key elements linking citizens whose ideas may converge only in some –if strong- points. Social networks on the internet were able to canalize both, indignation and hope, and are still doing so. This was the case even though proposals and plans of action for the future were-and still are-under construction. An initial list of objectives was available on the D.R.Y. website before the May 15th demonstrations.
Nevertheless, a wider multi-sited, connected, somehow unclear, yet strongly participatory process for articulating a political program grew right after 15-M. This articulation work soon became crucial since, unlike the recent case of many Muslim countries, the primary objective of the protests is not an easily definable one, such as the overthrow of the government. The general goal is rather to denounce (and to demand concrete changes on) structural problems that affect politics and society at several levels. To my mind, a key issue at stake –and to be analyzed- right now are the roles of social networks and the internet not only as sources of –and what kinds of- mobilization, but also of deliberation and action at the national level over the long term.
In this process, assemblies and demonstrations offline proved crucial before, but especially after the marches on 15-M (May 15th). Some of the 20,000 demonstrators in Madrid spontaneously decided to camp at the place where the rally ended last Sunday, in the core of the capital: La Plaza del Sol. The symbolic power of the site is clear: the ‘’Kilómetro Cero’’ (Kilometer Zero), the center of the radial network of Spanish roads. New camps have mushroomed –and sometimes been stopped by authorities- all over the country ever since, and may jump to other European cities this week, where people are planning to concentrate in front of Spanish embassies.
The connections between assemblies in diverse cities, the connections or disconnections, in turn, between those and the social networks online, the positions of traditional mass media, etc. will be some of the things I will talk about in coming soapbox posts. In so doing, I will try not just to inform about the feats and fate of these questioning networks, online and offline. I will also try to question them, and to analyze the possibilities and limitations that their sociotechnical infrastructures represent for the future of their works and proposals.
About the Author: Antonio Calleja-Lopez was visiting Fulbright student with CSPO and CNS from the University of Seville, Spain.
